Assistant Director - Engineering, Asset Management Digital Experience

Principal Financial Group; Charlotte (NC); Hybrid; USD 145,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Principal Financial Group's Asset Management Digital Experience team seeks an Assistant Director of Engineering to lead an engineering group building client-facing web experiences and digital tools for global institutional clients.

You will set strategy with product and business leaders, guide multiple agile teams across regions, and develop talent while driving scalable platforms and AI-enabled experiences to improve client engagement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in CS/engineering or related field.
• 8+ years enterprise digital or technical experience.
• Formal people leadership experience.
• Strong background in digital platforms and client delivery.
• Ability to influence across matrixed teams and leaders.
• Excellent communication with technical and business stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction with product, marketing, and business leaders to shape digital experience strategy.
• Lead and inspire teams supporting public websites and client portals across regions.
• Translate vision into actionable initiatives that enhance access to investment data and tools.
• Drive alignment across product families for scalable digital capabilities.
• Identify and advance next-gen tools and AI-enabled experiences for client engagement.
• Coach and develop engineering talent across a global team.
• Monitor digital trends to evolve the web and client platform ecosystem.

Skills

Digital experience

Leadership

Cross-functional influence

Communication

Global time zones

Matrixed environment

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Job description

What You’ll Do

We’re looking for an Assistant Director of Engineering to join our Digital Experience team within Asset Management. In this role, you’ll lead an engineering team responsible for building client-facing web experiences and digital tools that support some of our largest global institutional clients.

• Set strategic direction: Partner with product, marketing, and business leaders to shape the digital experience strategy across client-facing platforms, delivering scalable web and portal solutions that support global Asset Management clients
• Lead and inspire: Guide teams supporting public websites, secure client portals, and digital tools, driving high-quality delivery across multiple agile product teams and global regions
• Translate vision into action: Bridge digital, engineering, and business priorities—ensuring seamless execution of initiatives that enhance how clients access investment insights, data, and tools
• Drive alignment: Influence and align cross-functional partners across product families, enabling coordinated delivery of digital capabilities and client experiences at scale
• Innovate for impact: Identify and advance new digital capabilities, including next-generation tools and AI-enabled experiences to improve client engagement, usability, and platform scalability
• Build high-performing teams: Coach and develop engineering talent (both direct and matrixed), fostering a culture of ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement across a global team
• Stay future-focused: Monitor trends in digital experience, client expectations, and financial services technology to evolve our web and client platform ecosystem for long-term growth

Operating at the intersection of financial services and technology, Principal builds financial tools that help our customers live better lives. We take pride in being a purpose-led firm, motivated by our mission to make financial security accessible to all. Our mission, integrity, and customer focus have made us a trusted leader for more than 140 years.

Who You Are

• Bachelor's degree (preference in a computer science, technology, engineering or math-related field) or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of enterprise-level digital or technical experience, demonstrating progressive responsibility and impact
• Formal people leadership experience, coaching talent, and building build a culture of accountability and collaboration
• Strong background in digital experience, web platforms, or client-facing product delivery
• Proven ability to influence across teams and leaders in a highly matrixed environment
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate between technical and business stakeholders
• Comfortable working in a global operating model across multiple regions and time zones

Skills That Will Help You Stand Out

• 4+ years of technology leadership managing and mentoring direct reports; proven ability to build strong teams and a culture of accountability
• Asset Management domain experience
• Proven experience in financial services, with the ability to navigate complex client, product, and regulatory environments
• Experience leading technical direction of global or distributed teams
• Strong understanding of UX/CX and delivering best-in-class client experiences
• Experience building or scaling digital platforms, client portals, or authenticated user experiences
• Exposure to AI or emerging technologies applied to digital experience or client platforms

Salary Range Information

Salary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.

Salary Range (Non-Exempt expressed as hourly; Exempt expressed as yearly)

$145000 - $185000 / year

Time Off Program

Flexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.

Pension Eligible

Yes

Work Environments

This role offers an in-office and hybrid (blending at least three office days in a typical workweek) work arrangement in Des Moines, IA, Charlotte, NC, Raleigh, NC, Chicago, IL or New York, NY.

Our Engineering Culture

Through our product-driven Agile/Lean DevOps environment, we’ve fostered a culture of innovation and experimentation across our development teams. As a customer-focused organization, we work closely with our end users and product owners to understand and rapidly respond to emerging business needs.

Collaboration is embedded into everything we do – from the products we develop to the quality service we provide. We’re driven by the belief that diversity of thought, background, and perspective is critical to creating the best products and experiences for our customers.

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we’re not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.

Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants

Investment Code of Ethics

For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.

Experience Principal

At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.

Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.